


i must've forgot (you can't trust me)

by Taste_of_Bitterness



Series: i don't think it struck you (it chose you) [1]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Barry Allen & Iris West Friendship, Barry Allen has a secret baeeee, Barry Allen/mystery man, Everyone Thinks They're Together, F/M, Iris and Eddie being cute, M/M, Unrequited Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-29
Updated: 2015-12-29
Packaged: 2018-05-10 02:22:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5565514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taste_of_Bitterness/pseuds/Taste_of_Bitterness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eddie sat back as well. "Huh. He's been acting weird at work too."</p><p>"What do you mean?"</p><p>"I mean he seems a lot happier. He's always been perky, but I caught him literally skipping a couple times." Eddie cracked a grin. "And he keeps daydreaming. He did it at a crime scene and fell on his face right next to the corpse."</p><p> </p><p>In which everyone thinks Barry's crush on Iris has escalated, but it really, seriously hasn't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	i must've forgot (you can't trust me)

Things had been awkward since Barry confessed his feelings for Iris. Well, to be more accurate, things had been awkward since his second confession and the subsequent punch to the face via Eddie. 

No matter how much Iris had tried, Barry had seemed to be avoiding her. Which she guessed she couldn't blame him for. Eddie had a mean right hook.

Then Barry suddenly started talking to her again, which Iris was really happy with. He smiled at her like normal, and dropped into Jitters on the fairly regular basis again. Her coworkers started teasing her for her shadow like he hadn't been gone for three weeks. And Iris, too, was willing to forget it. 

But then it got weird. 

His smiles got a lot bigger. Barry would come wandering up to Iris with the brightest look on his face, his eyes squishing up adorably. If he was the puppy everyone at Jitters compared him to, his tail would now be on constant wag-mode. Sometimes he brought her presents. It was freaky. The barista next to her asked if they'd finally gotten engaged.

His trips to her work actually tapered off a bit, but Iris was pretty sure that had to do with S.T.A.R. labs. His psychosis had to be acting up. That was the only reason. Barry had convinced himself that he and Iris were a thing, again.

She tried to avoid telling Eddie. Iris knew he probably wouldn't punch Barry in the face again, but better safe than sorry.

Until it crossed the line.

Barry entered Jitters, the bell jingling brightly, with a huge smile on his face. Mary giggled from behind Iris's shoulder as he approached the counter, looking like he felt like he was gliding on air.

"Iris." He beamed.

"Barry," she said, trying to sound just as happy but she had a sneaking suspicion it came across a bit flat. "Get a table. I'll be right over with your usual."

Barry bounced over to a small table near the middle. The sunlight streaming through the windows highlighted his hair. He looked like a goddamn angel. 

"Have fun with your husband," Mary teased as Iris grabbed a blueberry muffin to go with Barry's drink. She stuck out her tongue at the blonde. It was a little annoying that everyone called Barry her boyfriend or her husband when she had a perfectly good boyfriend already. But, hey, she couldn't blame them when Barry drifted after her with such a love-struck look on his face.

As she approached the table, Barry was looking off into the distance, pink spreading across his cheeks. Iris tapped the table and put the coffee and muffin in front of him as he jumped. He looked over at Iris, his eyes brightening.

"Iris! I've got to give you something." He started digging in his messenger bag and Iris stifled a laugh at all the science magazines, weird protein bars, and pens she saw cluttered there.

He finally pulled out a medium-sized, slightly bent box. "Here." He shoved it towards her. "For you." 

Iris looked down at the thin box and took it, studying the weird word on it.

"It's Swiss or something. Maybe Dutch. German?" Barry paused, eyes swiveling to the ceiling in thought. "Anyway, I got like five thousand boxes of those and that's way too much for one guy to eat even if that guy is me. So. This is for you." He smiled at her.

Iris smiled back. "Thank you, Barry."

"No problem." He laughed. "Seriously. Oh, muffin," Barry said, spotting it. "Thanks, Iris! Anyway, I gotta go. Just stopped by to give you that. Catch you later?" Iris nodded, and Barry jumped up, grabbing the coffee and muffin. Iris mentally applauded herself for putting it in a to-go cup. She'd noticed how much Barry tended to suddenly bolt lately.

After the door swung shut behind him, Iris went back behind the counter, box held loosely in her hands. Mary's eyes lighted upon it, and she grinned.

"What'd he get you?"

"I don't know, but apparently it's Swiss," Iris said, and had to sigh. "He probably got some stale chocolate from the grocery store and is pawning it off to me."

"Oh, ye of little faith. That looks pretty legit to me." Mary pointed at the curling gold calligraphy. "And I don't know about you, but the name DeLafée sounds fuckin' over-priced."

Iris rolled her eyes at Mary, and snuck her phone out of her pocket. "Look, I'll google it, and show you that it's not- Holy shit!" Her eyes widened as she read the tiny description for the chocolate website. No way. No fucking way. "I think Barry gave me gold chocolate," Iris said, not sure how else to say it.

"What?" The blonde gaped.

Iris flipped the lid of the white box, revealing 8 tiny truffles in (hopefully fake) gold wrappers. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "This cost 114 dollars."

"Goddamn," Mary breathed. "That's a bit extravagant."

Iris couldn't do anything else but nod.

 

Iris threw her chopsticks down onto the table and shoved the container of lo mein away. Eddie looked up from his kung pao with a frown. She looked right back at him, lips twisted. "Pass me a fortune cookie," she said.

"Uh, okay." He dug around in the brown paper bag and pulled out a cookie, tossing it to her. A panda was on the plastic wrapper, advertising the third Kung Fu Panda movie. She scowled at the adorable fat panda bear, and tore the bag open. 

"You okay?" Eddie asked, watching her slump back in the chair and crack open the fortune cookie. He sort of had puppy eyes, though they weren't quite as effective as Barry's. 

"Not really," she said, then sighed, placing the two halves down on the table and looking up at Eddie. "I think Barry's lightning psychosis is acting up again."

Eddie frowned. "What? Why? Is he hitting on you again?"

"Sort of?" Iris shrugged and massaged her temples. "I don't know, babe. He's just been overly nice."

Eddie sat back as well, grabbing a napkin and wiping the corners of his mouth. "Huh. He's been acting weird at work too."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean he seems a lot happier. He's always been perky, but I caught him literally skipping a couple times." Eddie cracked a grin. "And he keeps daydreaming, everywhere. He did it at a crime scene and fell on his face right next to the corpse."

"No way," Iris said.

"Yes way. And he keeps leaving early, which is pissing Singh off since he's already always late. I figured he was going to see you or something."

"No," Iris said with a shake of her head. "Maybe he's going to S.T.A.R. labs."

"I don't think so," he said. "Joe would know that, right? And he seems just as confused as the rest of us." They both frowned, and Iris crossed her arms over her chest in frustration.

Eddie's head jerked and he looked up from the spot on the table he'd been staring at. "Wait," he said, holding up his hands. "What do you mean by overly nice?"

"Oh. He's smiling at me more. And he keeps buying me presents."

"Like?"

Iris mumbled, and Eddie glared at her. "He bought me chocolate today," she said. "Really expensive chocolate."

"How expensive?" Eddie asked.

"Over a hundred bucks," she admitted. 

Eddie's mouth fell open and his eyes widened. "Woah," he said. "That better be some good chocolate."

"It has gold in it, or something." Eddie blinked. "I don't know," Iris said, frustrated. "But it's weird, right?"

"This whole situation is weird," Eddie said. "Does he think you're dating him? 'Cause, not cool." He reached his hand over the table and stroked her wrist. "You're my bae."

Iris blushed. "Never say that again," she laughed. "I'll talk to him, Eddie." He nodded, and smiled at her. She smiled back.

 

Iris walked to the Precinct the next day on her lunch break, two coffees in her hands, and the dented box of unnecessary gold truffles in her purse. As she pushed through the doors, her dad caught sight of her and waved. Eddie, sitting next to him with a bunch of files, looked up too. She raised one of the cups in a salute, and headed towards the stairs. 

She hurried up the steps to Barry's nerd-lab, coffee sloshing in the cups. Barry looked up from his computer he was standing by when she walked inside, a test tube in each hand. A smile broke across his face, eyes squishing.

"Hey, Bear," Iris said, smiling, "I come bearing the sweet nectar of life." She offered him a cup.

"Eddie and Joe are downstairs," he said, sliding the test tubes into the holder and taking the coffee.

"I'm not here for them. I'm here for you." Iris grinned. "We're best buds, right?" Interesting that he mentioned Eddie too, she thought. Clearly Barry was still aware that Eddie was important in Iris' life. So what did he think was between them? An affair?

"Right," Barry said, uncertainty clear in his voice. "Of course." 

"So," she said, walking over and perching on Barry's chair. "What'cha doing?"

He looked down at the test tubes. "Just analyzing some dirt samples from a crime scene. Boring, really."

"Finally admitting it, huh?" Iris said, nudging his shoulder. Barry grinned. 

"It is the first step, after all. Admitting you have a problem." He suddenly looked at the computer screen, flushing. Iris wondered what he was thinking. Maybe about her. Naked? God, please don't let Barry be thinking about her naked.

Has Barry jerked off to thoughts of her? Iris cringed, the image of Barry gasping and moaning her name rising to the forefront of her mind. Great. Now they were both blushing.

"So, uh." She coughed, clearing her throat. "We haven't talked about your life much recently. Any girls catch your eye?"

Barry looked at her, redness fading from his cheeks. He quirked his eyebrows at her, grinning. "Seriously? You asking if I've got a crush on someone?"

"Well, yeah," she said, folding her arms over her chest. "Got a problem with that?"

"Not at all." He stuck out his tongue at her. "Since we're in middle school and all."

"Shut up," she groaned.

Barry laughed, glancing at the computer screen again. She looked too. The computer analysis was only halfway done. Plenty of time to talk. Barry seemed to realize this too, and leaned against the desk.

"To answer your question, no." He shrugged. "No girl. Girls haven't really been on my radar, to be honest. Not since the lightning." He gave her a 'What can you do?' look.

"Understandable. Just…" Iris paused. Time to go for it. "What you said on Christmas, and then the whole psychosis thing-"

Barry looked away, a wall suddenly coming down, his jaw clenching. "Yeah, lets not talk about that," he said.

"I feel like we have too. Barry." She laid her hand on his shoulder, feeling it tense under her touch. The good mood had been sucked out of the room quickly, leaving her a little dizzy. "You've been acting weird lately. I'm worried-"

"You have nothing to be worried about, Iris," Barry bit out, scowling down at the computer screen. "I'm fine. Really. Happy. Leave it be."

"I just want to know if your psychosis it acting up again," Iris said, tightening her grip on his shoulder briefly in comfort.

"It's not," he said. "Iris, I'm not into you anymore."

"Like two months ago-," she began, thinking of his second attempt to get her to love him.

"Two months ago, I was really confused." Barry ran a hand through his hair, making the brown strands stick up even more. "But I'm not anymore. And I don't like you, like, that way anymore."

Iris frowned, and sighed. She didn't understand why Barry was fighting this. She figured he'd re-proclaim his love for her, and she'd just have to coax him back to reality where it wasn't okay to hit on your taken best friend. This, though, this was weird.

"Barry." She slid her purse off her arm and zipped it open, pulling the box of truffles out. He looked at it, uncomprehendingly. 

"What?" He asked. "Did you not like the chocolate or something?" His puppy eyes began forming. When Iris first met him, she thought his eyes were brown. Then she thought they were blue. Then green. Whatever color they were, they were unfairly precious whenever Barry directed their full power towards someone.

"You told me you gave me this because you already had tons. But you don't, do you? You bought these specifically for me."

Barry blinked. "Uh, no." He slid open a desk drawer, showing off the contents inside.

Iris saw bags of chips, chocolate bars, like twenty of Barry's specialty protein bars, and, yes, five boxes of DeLafée truffles. 

"I have ten more boxes at home," he said. "And you're not the only one who got a box. I gave one to Caitlin, one to Cisco, one to Dr. Wells, and one to Joe." 

Iris dropped her box of truffles to the table. "Wait," she said. "How the hell did you afford twenty boxes of gold chocolate from Switzerland?"

Barry shrugged. 

"Alright," she muttered. She thought for a second, trying to recall all the things Barry had done that made her wonder if Barry was delusional again. "But you gave me flowers."

"They were making me sneeze," Barry said.

"You gave me a stuffed bear," she argued. 

"I gave Joe a stuffed pig, Caitlin a stuffed frog, Cisco a stuffed turtle, and Eddie a stuffed fox." 

"Wait, really?" Iris asked, wondering why Eddie hadn't mentioned that. 

"I know how to share," Barry said, pouting. 

"I'm so confused," she admitted.

"Sorry," he said. "But you get it, right? I'm not, like, trying to get with you or anything." 

Iris sat there, biting her lip. She had to rearrange everything in her head. She'd been convinced that Barry was doing this because he loved her. But he didn't. So who was he thinking about when gazing off in the distance? Who was making him so happy? 

The computer beeped, and Barry leaned over, fingers flying over the keys. His back was slanted, narrow hips at an angle as he leaned forward on his right foot. The sleeves of his nerdy sweater that Iris didn't recognize - must be new - was pushed up past his elbow, button-up shirt sleeves folded up over that. His jeans, Iris admitted, made his legs look great. Iris stared at him, taking in everything. Barry, honestly, looked good. He was practically glowing, like a pregnant woman. 

Barry narrowed his eyes at the numbers on the screen, his bottom lip sliding between his teeth. 

For that matter, Iris thought, how the hell had he afforded all this stuff to begin with? Flowers, stuffed animals, new clothes, golden chocolate from another country. No way Barry could buy that on his salary. Which meant there was only one explanation. 

"You do have a girlfriend, though," she blurted out. "A rich one." And Barry blushed, big time, the redness stretching past his cheeks and down his neck.

"Iris," he started.

"Is it Caitlin? She seems to like you."

"What?" Barry sounded personally offended. "No! She still loves her fiancé. We're just friends. Completely platonic. She's my doctor."

"Felicity, then," Iris offered. "She's cute. Couldn't afford golden chocolate though." She frowned. "Does your girlfriend live in Central City?"

"No, but they're not a-"

"Where'd you meet her? What's she look like? Oh, God, please tell me she's not a cougar. She's not older than you, right?" Barry looked away, his blush deepening. "Barry, you dog!"

He looked back at Iris and took a deep breath, seeming to decide something. Then he gave a small nod, and smiled. "Not a cougar," he muttered. "Five year age difference."

"What's she look like?"

“Tall,” Barry said. “Dark blonde hair. Pretty eyes.” He started to smile, a dreamy softness drifting across his face. “Strong.”

“She sounds lovely,” Iris said, grinning. “Why is she buying you all these gifts?”

“Messing with me,” Barry said, giving a brief laugh. “They, uh, they know I don’t like people spending money on me so they're trying to get me to loosen up.” He gave a mischievous smile. “But I just gave half of it to you guys.”

“Aw, you two are adorable,” Iris said, clapping her hands together. “When can I meet her?”

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say, because his face sharpened, and he looked away, fists clenching. His eyes looked a little glassy. 

“Barry?” She reached her hand out, confused. He jerked away from her, swiping his hands under his eyes. “Oh my God, Barry. What’s wrong? What did I do?”

“Nothing,” he muttered, shoving his hands in his pocket. “I’m just-” He stopped. “I shouldn't have gone along with it. Iris, there is no girl.” 

Iris stared at him. “Then who’s buying you all these things?” 

“This may come as a shock,” and, God, when did Barry’s voice get so cold? “But people can date people outside of the opposite sex.” He looked at Iris, and when she just sat there, mouth open, he snorted.

He pushed himself away from the desk, and stalked to the door, grabbing his jacket. Barry rushed from the lab, not even looking back. Iris had a sick feeling in her stomach that he may be crying. 

Iris wasn’t homophobic. Of course not. She just...never thought Barry was gay. There was that girl in school, and there was her, and she just never thought. Bisexual, she finally concluded, sitting on that uncomfortable lab chair. Barry was bisexual. And that was okay, that was fine, she would always love him and it didn’t matter whether he was with a boy or a girl. And she realized how wrong it was, for her to just assume. Barry, Barry probably wasn’t even mad. Just hurt. 

He’d tried to tell her, after all. Tried to say no. But Iris didn’t let him. She just kept plowing onward, just assuming things. God, that’s messed up. She needed to apologize. 

It was a couple minutes before Iris could force herself up. She grabbed the two cups of coffee, full, cold, and ran out of the lab and down the stairs. Eddie and Joe were waiting down there, looks of confusion painted across their faces.

“Iris?” Joe asked. “What happened? Barry just ran out of here.”

She gave a weak chuckle. “He can be a bit scary when he’s mad.”

Eddie’s worry shifted into anger. “Did he hurt you?”

“No,” she said. “I hurt him.” Iris paused, and pressed her hands to her eyes. “I messed up, Dad.” Joe shifted closer, resting a hand on her shoulder. 

“What did you do, Iris?” The cop asked. 

“I-I thought he was hitting on me, you know? Since he told me he loved me on Christmas. I just figured he was coming on to me. But he wasn’t. He’s with someone else and I-.” She took a jerky breath, all hitches and sniffles. “I need to find him.”

 

Barry was at the park, the fourth place she checked after the house, Jitters, and S.T.A.R. labs. He was slouched on a chipped bench, kicking the grass with his high tops. His phone was spinning slowly in his hands. 

Iris walked over, and sat down. She stared out to the water, and sighed. “Hey, Bear.” 

“Hey, Iris.” His voice was soft, apologetic. Like he regretted storming off.

She turned to him. “So.” Iris gave a tentative smile. “What’s his name?” Barry stopped spinning his phone, and looked over at her, eyes bright. A grin slowly broke across his face and it was like the sun was returning, warming her shoulders. 

“You’re not going to guess?” He asked.

“Mm, Cisco?” 

Barry’s smile grew, squishing his eyes. “Oh my God, ew.”

“Dr. Wells?”

“Nevermind! Stop guessing!”

She gasped. “Wait. Blonde hair, pretty eyes...Is Eddie cheating on me with you?” 

“Iris! Of course not!” He paused. "My boyfriend's much better looking than that." She started laughing, bending at the waist. She could hear Barry holding back laughter too. 

“Well, who then?” She asked.

“Think about it,” Barry said, smirking. “Tall. Strong. Rich enough to buy twenty boxes of Swiss chocolate for no reason. You’ll figure it out.” He stood up, pulling his jacket tighter around him, and patted her on the shoulder. “See you at home. And, you know. Thanks.”

“Oh, Barry,” she said, beaming at his back as he started walking away. Iris leaned back against the park bench, thinking. 

Dark blonde hair, tall. Obscenely rich. Probably been Barry’s friend, since he’s honestly sort of demiromantic. Who could it be?

Iris hummed, tapping her fingers against her jean-clad leg. She looked back to the water, watching the setting sun’s rays send highlights of pretty yellows and pinks across the waves. Tall, blonde, rich. 

Iris bolted upright, mouth falling open. No. No way. No way was Barry Allen, sweet, lovable, dork, dating the Starling City former-billionaire playboy. Nuh-uh. “Holy shit,” she hissed under her breath. She’d swear she could hear Barry laughing in her ear. “Oh my fucking God.”

**Author's Note:**

> Um, yeah. You probably guessed it from the beginning who Barry's mystery man was. Considering it says "The Arrow" as one of the fandoms. Hahai'mnotsneaky.
> 
> There are not enough Barry/Oliver fics in this fandom and I am determined to fix that. May make this a series, with other characters finding out, and little fluffy pieces about Barry and Oliver themselves. Y'know. 'Cause I can.
> 
> **And yes, I know DeLafee boxes are actually satin-covered wooden boxes, but that would have given away the fact they were overpriced right away. Plus, so unnecessary. Gold truffles are enough. Use a normal cardboard box or something.


End file.
